According to the U.S. Health Department of Health and Human Services, about one in 10 women of childbearing age have PCOS. Most women are diagnosed during their twenties or thirties, and many don't find out that they have PCOS until they have trouble getting pregnant.

PCOS can make getting pregnant difficult.

Dr. Nicole Swiner, M.D., told INSIDER that since there is hormonal confusion and often infrequent menstrual cycles, trying to get pregnant when you have PCOS can be very difficult.

Dr. Tami Prince, M.D., agrees and told INSIDER that since likely symptoms of PCOS are either irregular periods or anovulation (when ovulation doesn't take place during a menstrual cycle), women affected by the condition may have trouble conceiving.

Prince said that since conception — and thus pregnancy — involves ovulation with subsequent implantation of the fertilized egg, if ovulation does not occur, no egg can be released from the ovary and therefore pregnancy will not occur.

A normal menstrual cycle means that ovulation usually occurs around the same time each month, and irregular periods makes pinpointing ovulation very difficult.

"If pregnancy is desired, medication may be necessary," said Prince. If you are having trouble getting pregnant, she recommends clomiphene (clomid) as a first-line treatment.

But if pregnancy is unsuccessful with clomiphene citrate, Prince said you may have clomiphene citrate resistance PCOS. In this case, other medication options include letrozole, metformin if there is insulin resistance, or a combination of letrozole and metformin.

Ovarian drilling is a surgical option that's also available to women. Prince explained that ovarian drilling "resets" the ovary in order to decrease follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and the ratio of LH to FSH.

PCOS can also increase the likelihood of developing gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that lasts only as long as the pregnancy. Women with PCOS may also deal with preeclampsia, which is marked by high blood pressure during pregnancy.